Before the game began, Leverkusen had an advantage because they had defeated the Swabians 14 times in a row. Ermedin Demirović's first goal, however, disproved that in just fifteen minutes for Stuttgart. After scoring VfB's equalizer at Kiel last week, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international was once again included in the starting lineup.
Lukáš Hrádecký saved Demirović from Jamie Leweling's attempt to cause Leverkusen further suffering. Demirović became the first Stuttgart player to reach 10 league goals for the season, even though Nick Woltemade and Deniz Undav took his starting spot.
Maximilian Mittelstädt's perseverance was the catalyst for the home team's move on his 200th Bundesliga appearance. Woltemade and Patrik Schick had the game's next two best chances, but neither striker was able to control his shots to stay on goal.
Before halftime, Stuttgart almost increased their lead when Angelo Stiller attempted to score after Hrádecký's save from Enzo Millot, hoping to duplicate Demirović's feat. In keeping with their recent performance, Leverkusen failed to score any goals against Alexander Nübel in yet another drab first-half performance by Xabi Alonso's team.
Three minutes into the resumption, the Spaniard suffered yet another defeat despite not making any changes to the team at the beginning of the second half. After Millot did some excellent work on the left wing, Woltemade scored Stuttgart's second goal.
Leverkusen recovered admirably after giving up two or more goals for the fourth straight game, with Jeremie Frimpong cutting the deficit to make up for Stuttgart's clumsy set-piece defense. In an uncommon move, Alonso switched players right away to put Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface up front. Stuttgart, however, scored the game's next goal through an own goal.
Hrádecký's superb stop of Demirović's close-range strike deflected off Granit Xhaka into the net, setting up the goal once more. It will be remembered as the first own goal in Xhaka's remarkable Bundesliga career.
However, that was not the end of it. Piero Hincapié's third goal of the season in all competitions gave Leverkusen the lead right away. The game's flow at this time was significantly different from the dull goalless draw in the rematch.
Both Boniface and Schick asked too many questions for Stuttgart's defense as Leverkusen sought for a late equalizer. Amine Adli had the best opportunity, though, as the halftime substitute missed a chance to test Nübel from a promising position.
However, they won't be denied for long. With the game's second own goal, Leverkusen's run of late goals against Stuttgart now stands at "four in five." They had scored late goals in three of their previous four encounters.
The visitors overcame a two-goal deficit to salvage an unexpected point when Stiller deflected Boniface's cross into his own net. A recognizable person was left to finish the comeback. In the 94th minute, Schick scored the game-winning header after Frimpong's cross.
Stuttgart's losing skid against B04 now stands at 15 games following heartbreaking losses to Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal quarterfinal and the Supercup final last season. After a challenging period for the team, Alonso finally receives a response from his team just before the international break.
In contrast to the week before, Leverkusen capitalized on Bayern's point loss, closing the margin to six points in the Bundesliga standings. Stuttgart, however, entered the international break with a five-game losing streak and is currently mired in midtable.
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